Donald Trump says Vladimir Putin agreed to begin negotiations to end war in Ukraine
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin had a “highly productive conversation” on Ukraine, as it was revealed the US would release a Russian crypto king in a prisoner exchange deal.
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Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin have agreed to immediately begin negotiations to end the war in Ukraine, almost three years after Russia’s illegal invasion.
In the first publicised call between the leaders, after the US President spent weeks dodging questions about whether he had spoken to his Russian counterpart, they also agreed to visit each other’s countries in what Mr Trump described as a “lengthy and highly productive conversation”.
Mr Trump, who had vowed to end the war within 24 hours of returning to power, said Mr Putin repeated his campaign motto of “common sense” as they decided to “work together very closely” and “stop the millions of deaths taking place” in Ukraine.
“We have also agreed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately, and we will begin by calling President (Volodymyr) Zelenskyy, of Ukraine, to inform him of the conversation, something which I will be doing right now,” the President said in a statement on his Truth Social website.
“I have asked Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Director of the CIA John Ratcliffe, National Security Adviser Michael Waltz, and Ambassador and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, to lead the negotiations which, I feel strongly, will be successful.”
Mr Trump later added that he had spoken to Mr Zelenskyy and that “he, like President Putin, wants to make PEACE”.
Hours earlier, Mr Zelenskyy proposed an exchange of seized territory with Russia.
But Mr Trump’s Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said it would be “unrealistic” for Ukraine to expect to restore its borders as they were before Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014.
Speaking ahead of Mr Trump’s statement on his call with the Russian President, Mr Hegseth also shut down Ukraine’s desire to join the NATO military alliance, and instead suggested non-American peacekeeping troops would have to secure any ceasefire deal.
Mr Trump said of the negotiations: “I believe this effort will lead to a successful conclusion, hopefully soon!”
“Millions of people have died in a War that would not have happened if I were President, but it did happen, so it must end. No more lives should be lost! I want to thank President Putin for his time and effort with respect to this call,” the president said.
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TRUMP SWAPS RUSSIAN CRYPTO KING FOR US TEACHER
US President Donald Trump has swapped Russian prisoner Alexander Vinnik, which secured the release of American teacher Marc Fogel, an administration official has confirmed.
Vinnik was arrested in 2017 in Greece and extradited to France and the US to face charges of fraud and money laundering.
For six years prior to Vinnik’s arrest, he had been in charge of the BTC-e cryptocurrency exchange — which funnelled more than A$15 billion worth of transactions.
In December 2020, Vinnik was convicted by a French court of money laundering and sentenced to five years in prison. In May 2024, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering before a San Francisco federal judge.
Vinnik had not registered BTC-e in the US as a money services business, despite having several customers in America, and the US Department of Justice had said his case showed just how far the department could reach to thwart cybercrime around the world.
The US government has hailed the prisoner exchange as a positive sign for diplomacy between the two countries and for possible negotiations over an end to the Ukraine war.
“President Trump, Steve Witkoff and the President’s advisers negotiated an exchange that serves as a show of good faith from the Russians and a sign we are moving in the right direction to end the brutal and terrible war in Ukraine,” US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz said in a statement.
Vinnik was extradited to the United States from Greece in August 2022, hours after he had been released from a French jail.
Fogel returned to the US on Tuesday night local time after being held captive in Russia for three and a half years on marijuana charges.
Steve Witkoff, Trump’s Middle East envoy, told reporters at the White House on Wednesday he got a call the previous day that Mr Fogel had been released by Russia and was instructed by Mr Trump to get him back to the US.
“I would say that without President Trump’s election, none of this would’ve happened,” Witkoff said of the exchange, noting that the agreement “came together” in the last few days.
The envoy also said Saudi Arabia was involved in finalising the swap.
Mr Trump personally met Mr Fogel at the White House after his return to the US and gave him a tour of the Lincoln Bedroom.
Mr Trump, standing alongside Mr Fogel in the White House, said: “To me he looks damned good.”
Mr Fogel kissed the ground after disembarking from his plane and stepping on American soil.
“I want you to know that I am not a hero in this at all. And President Trump is a hero,” he said.
Mr Trump has indicated another American is set to be released as soon as early Thursday AEDT without providing their identity. Several Americans are still detained in Russia, including 72-year-old Stephen Hubbard, who was accused of fighting the Russian army with Ukrainian mercenaries.
WELCOME HOME, MARC!🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/0b2Igcqudp
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 12, 2025
US ISSUES UKRAINE BORDERS ULTIMATUM TO NATO
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth laid out President Donald Trump’s red lines and demands on Ukraine and NATO to Washington’s allies, telling Europe it must step up on supporting Kyiv and its own defence.
In a forceful introduction at NATO headquarters in Brussels, the former television anchor set out the contours for a future deal that Mr Trump has vowed to reach on ending Russia’s war on Ukraine.
“We want, like you, a sovereign and prosperous Ukraine,” Mr Hegseth said.
“But we must start by recognising that returning to Ukraine’s pre-2014 borders is an unrealistic objective.”
In 2014 Russia and Russian-back separatists seized Crimea and a portion of the Donbas.
It was during these skirmishes that Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 was shot down, killing 283 passengers and 15 crew including 38 Australians.
“Our message is clear, the bloodshed must stop and this war must end,” Mr Hegseth said.
The US defence chief said security guarantees would be needed for Ukraine but that NATO membership was “not realistic,” and made clear the United States would not deploy troops on the ground.
“Instead, any security guarantee must be backed by capable European and non-European troops,” he said.
Mr Hegseth said that Mr Trump was “unleashing US energy production” and urging other producers to do so in a bid to drive down prices – and push Moscow to negotiate.
But he insisted that Europe must now start providing the “overwhelming share” of aid to Ukraine.
The tough US stance had largely been expected but it will still provide a cold shower for Kyiv as its forces struggle to hold back Russia.
Mr Hegseth’s visit to NATO headquarters is part of the first flurry of high-ranking American visits to Europe since Mr Trump took power.
Those are set to culminate with Vice President JD Vance meeting Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelensky in Munich on Friday.
RUSSIA RELEASES JAILED AMERICAN TEACHER
US President Donald Trump says he hopes the release of jailed American teacher Marc Fogel by Russia could mark the start of fresh ties with Moscow to end the Ukraine war.
“We were treated very nicely by Russia,” Mr Trump told reporters in the Oval Office of the White House.
“Actually, I hope that’s the beginning of a relationship where we can end that war.”
The White House earlier said Mr Trump secured the release of Mr Fogel, a Pennsylvania schoolteacher jailed since 2021 on drug charges, as part of an “exchange,” without offering further details.
Mr Fogel was arrested in 2021 at a Moscow airport after Russian officials found marijuana in his luggage and he was given a 14-year prison sentence after being convicted of drug smuggling.
His family said he was travelling with medically prescribed marijuana.
Steve Witkoff, a property developer and friend of Mr Trump who serves as his Middle East envoy, held talks and was “leaving Russian airspace” with Mr Fogel, the White House said.
The US envoy in charge of hostages, Adam Boehler, later posted a picture of Mr Fogel that appeared to show him savouring a stiff drink on a jet home, his other hand clasping both his passport and a plate of food.
UKRAINE’S BOLD LAND SWAP OFFER TO RUSSIA
Ukraine will offer to swap territory with Russia in any potential peace negotiations, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, adding that Europe alone would not be able to shoulder Kyiv’s war effort.
Mr Zelenskyy will meet US Vice President JD Vance later this week at the Munich Security Conference, as Washington pushes for an end to the nearly three-year war with Russia.
Mr Vance has been a frequent critic of US support that has been vital to Ukraine’s war effort.
“There are voices which say that Europe could offer security guarantees without the Americans, and I always say no,” Mr Zelenskyy told The Guardian newspaper.
“Security guarantees without America are not real security guarantees,” he said.
He said he would offer Russian President Vladimir Putin territory that Ukraine seized in Russia’s Kursk region six months ago.
“We will swap one territory for another,” he said, adding that he did not know which territories he would ask for in return.
“I don’t know, we will see. But all our territories are important, there is no priority,” he said.
Russia says it has annexed five regions of Ukraine — Crimea in 2014 and then Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia in 2022 — though it does not have full control over them.
US TREASURY SECRETARY TO VISIT REGION
The announcement on Mr Fogel came hours after Mr Trump announced a visit to Ukraine by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent — another official in his cabinet on a mission unrelated to his primary job.
Mr Trump also confirmed that he would soon dispatch his special envoy Keith Kellogg, who is tasked with drawing up a proposal to halt the fighting, to Ukraine.
Mr Trump took office vowing to end the war in Ukraine, possibly by leveraging billions of dollars in US assistance sent by Biden, to force Kyiv into territorial concessions.
Mr Trump in a Fox News interview aired earlier this week floated that Ukraine “may be Russian some day,” words quickly welcomed by Moscow.
“The fact that a significant part of Ukraine wants to become Russia, and has already, is a fact,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, referring to Moscow’s 2022 annexation of four Ukrainian regions after referendums widely criticised internationally as fraudulent.
The US President is pressing for a swift end to the conflict, while Mr Zelenskyy is calling for tough security guarantees from Washington as part of any deal.
Kyiv fears that any settlement that does not include hard military commitments, such as NATO membership or the deployment of peacekeeping troops, will allow the Kremlin time to regroup and rearm for a fresh attack.
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Originally published as Donald Trump says Vladimir Putin agreed to begin negotiations to end war in Ukraine